House Clears Fiscal Cliff Bill

Major fissures among Republicans in final vote

The House has cleared a fiscal cliff bill to stave off tax hike for tens of millions of Americans but is at best a short-term fix. The 257-167 House vote will cap days of frantic activity on Capitol Hill.

President Barack Obama is expected to sign the legislation quickly. It only got this far after Speaker John A. Boehner (R-OH) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) held a series meetings with Republican lawmakers outlining options. One high-risk strategy under consideration would have involved amending the bill and sending it back to the Senate. But it would likely have been DOA on the other side of the Capitol.

Such an outcome could make the House GOP the public face of a failed effort to avert automatic tax hikes and spending cuts and possibly cause a public outcry as taxes on every American worker would jump, reports The Washington Post.

The agreement, approved by the Senate in a highly unusual New Year's morning vote, primarily targets taxpayers who earn more than $450,000 per year, raising their rates for wages and investment profits. At the same time, it would protect more than 100 million households earning less than $250,000 a year from income tax increases scheduled to take effect Jan. 1.

The deal came together barely three hours before the midnight deadline, after negotiators cleared two final hurdles involving the estate tax and automatic spending cuts set to affect the Pentagon and other federal agencies this week.

Though the final vote was hardly in doubt, it still provided surprises. Speaker Boehner voted for the bill but Cantor opposed it. So did House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (WI), the 2012 vice-presidential nominee, voted for the measure.

This is an example of the democrats putting the country ahead of the party. They could have easily refused to compromise and run the clock out. The GOP would have been blamed and the dems would have been in a stronger negotiating position with the Bush tax cuts expired. Instead Obama compromised for the good of the country and it appears that the GOP will take the deal. I'm kind of surprised as most of the GOP is so out of touch with reality they thought they were going to win this. Obama out maneuvered them and could have easily humiliated them by letting the tax cuts expire then putting up a clean bill to lower taxes for 98% of us that the GOP would have been unable to block without destroying the party..

This is not about Obama wins. This is Washington D.C. grandstanding to the American Public and manufacturing a "crisis" that came about by both the GOP and Dems passing a bill to bring about this crisis. Smoke screening as usual.

The tax hike will only operate the fed gov't for 8 days, it is meaningless as a cure of anything.Meaningless except for something for Obama to say he did and for Obama lovers to be happy about, till they realize it gets us nothing.Fools

Once again the spending morons of the left push us farther into the bottomless pit of debt.$620B of added taxes, all of which will be spent, and just $15B of spending cuts. Sounds like a typical Democratic bill to me. The Democrats think this is cute...they win now, get to spend all the money, and who cares about the future of the country? Certainly not the Democrats, from the Idiot Obama on down. Obama owns this one...although I am sure he will blame the added deficit from this bill, estimated at an additional $3.6T by the CBO, on George Bush again.

Once again you swallow the story that one side is to blame, while YOUR side tried valiantly to save the country but failed. THEY are one side with two faces and WE are the other side... the little people that don't matter.

People should actually look at this bill, it doesn't do jack to prevent tax increases for the lower and middle income earners. This is just a BS pat on the back to CONgress so they can think they got something done (when they should've got something done a LONG time ago). CONgress: What a Crock....

I am afraid that you might be more right than anyone would believe. I fully expect Obama to use Executive Orders to try to make himself an effective Dictator for life. We know he hates our Constitution and current government structure. He could never get the required constitutional amendment passed by enough states, the military would not support his coup, so we will see how far he can push is Executive Orders. You know he wants to be Emperor.

@armed_liberal Wait a couple of years. In 2014, that 450/400 will be dropped to 300/250 when the spending doesn't stop. And then in 2016, another fiscal cliff will happen making it 250/200 and then to 150/100? Also barely half of this country pays taxes in the first place. Get the idea, yet?

@armed_liberal Getting any of those who lump liberals and socialist together to look up or understand the difference between those words is, well I won't say impossible, but about the same odds as being struck by lightening, in a desert, on a clear day without a cloud in the sky...

@PoliticalSpice It's kinda like comparing Obama to Hitler,(a common tea party rally cry). Hitler invaded other countries and exterminated dissidents, Jews and foreigners in Germany. That sounds a lot more like Bush than Obama.

The welfare class are still going to get their checks. They won't have to show up for work Monday morning like the rest of us. However, they will still get paid. Congress, the Senate, and yes even the president will still get paid. Who will be out income? The American people. We are the ones that must pay for the welfare do nothing class, the political class, all the moochers and freeloaders. You and I, that's who. We're the ones that get stuck with the tab. On top of all this, ol' weak kneed Boehner is the one delivering the dagger to the backside of Americans. He should not be reelected. Not after this. NO, NOT EVER AFTER THIS.

obama wins again. He'll get his wish and gut American like a trout. Once America is through being hollowed out, will there be anything left to salvage? RobertJHarsh might have the right answer. It's time to start learning Mandarin.

The hardworking Americans are being punished, so we can pay for moochers and what I call "Welfare Mongers". I know quite a few people who were on Welfare and doing for themselves, which I am VERY PROUD OF BY GOD, but there are many who mooch off the system. President Obama was a Socialist Activist and he does not know a damn thing about being President! Obama wants every American to live his way and his level of thinking. I say HELL NO!!!

Social Security and Medicare are not programs for "moochers". The elderly that paid into those programs all of their lives deserve better than the crap sandwich the Republicans are trying to give them. Bottom line, grandmas social security will be cut by Republicans to pay for the Bush wars and tax cuts for the wealthy.

You mean Comrade Soetoro (he's a communist, not a national socialist). But for real...no more registering to vote...no more voting. Done. Neither party represents me and at this point. Republicans just tied a noose around their neck and jumped off the chair. They are finished as a party. They just ensured they will LOSE the House in 2014.

They just voted for a bill where the "permanent tax cuts" were just made for people whom don't pay them in the first place! Welfare gimmedat trash and communists are the winners today. Remember when I said back in November by 2016 we'll have 65% on welfare...I can almost guarantee it now.

My only real question is what will the one-party state look line in 2020?...and will I be able to live here without being sent to a re-education camp?

@RobertJHarsh You two are hillarious! Adolf Hitler would invade countries, kill dissidents and deport foreigners (kinda sounds Republican). The stuff you are smoking isn't even legal in Washington or Colorado.

@RobertJHarsh You must have a very short memory. The Republican party was so widely disliked by the end of the George W. Bush administration that many candidates didn't even want to put "Republican" on their campaign posters. Some went with "GOP", others pretended to create a new party they called the "Tea Party" just to distance themselves from the bad press. But here you are, acting as if this is the first time that the Grand Old Party has let you down. Go ahead, stop voting. That will show them.

This is all much ado about nothing. The tax hikes won't even pay for a single year of spending. And when they get down to the spending "cuts" both parties will attach riders to the cut bill that increases pork barrel spending. RE-ELECT NOBODY. 2014

Such a incredibly simple solution. Too bad so many are so afraid to think for them selves. So many Americans are so detached from reality, They actually believe what they are told by the politicians and the Media's pundits. They actually believe we need these a-holes.

Boehner, you're out of the game man. You just irked off more republicans (like me) whom will stay home in 2016 and not vote for Kasich/Jindel (yeah...we know the next plan) so the homosexuals, angry white women and gimmedat welfare class will vote Democrat and the House will lose more seats.

Oh speaking of losing those House seats, enjoy your majority until 2014.

I have to wonder how much more the gays can demand? They will have marriage rights by 2014 in all but a handful of states and frankly if I had to live in the bible belt I'd commit suicide and I'm straight so maybe they should move if they live there since marriage rights is the least of their problems in the BB. As for angry women I don't know too many angry women other than the lesbian ones which they will always be angry about something. Regardless. But those cradle to grave welfare do not vote partner. They couldn't care less who is president. they care when the check comes. Nothing more.

This bill is a joke and actually increases spending exceeding the new tax revenues. Every American should be irate. A rational person can not defend this irresponsible tax more and spend the hell out of it mentality. The balance in this bill is where? Wake up....this is not dream!

I dis-approve. But deep down I inside, I'm laughing my ass off at those that thought BO was only interested in taxing 'rich folks'. When will you moonies realize that in barry soetoro's eyes ANY PERSON that works is a paycheck to empower those human parasites that live entirely off Gov't.(taxpayer) support - simply to grow his beggar voter base. Just on question for BO -'what do you do when most of us working class decide it's easier to just stop working ? It's why socialism has failed everywhere , in all times - sooner or later they run out of other people's money. Hope & change - baha- ha-ha ?

Good, we kicked the can down the road again...That's all we can do...a system dependent of continuous growth is doomed to failure. You couldn't tax and cut your way out of this no matter to what magnitude you go. In the long run it's a loosing battle and we are nearing the end, or at least we are on the down-slide.

You people think that if only the correct people or the correct ideology were in control we could straighten things out and return to a viable path. You're deluding yourselves. There is no ultimate answer to a system which attempts to defy natural law. We can only delay the inevitable failure. Entropy will always win.